


Sacrifice

by parkersharthook



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Avengers, F/M, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt Peter Parker, Magic, mama spider natasha romanoff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 15:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18919795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkersharthook/pseuds/parkersharthook
Summary: Something happens to spiderman and it causes some problems





	1. Fucking Magic

“Of course.” Happy sighed in annoyance when he came face to face with what was causing him trouble. More appropriately, who was causing him trouble.  
Peter smiled cheekily at the older man, “Hey Happy.”  
Happy shook his head and rolled a finger over another, “hurry up out here. Boss man is waiting for you.” Peter nodded but returned to his previous position with his back leaning against the outside wall of the Stark Tower. Y/n was standing between his widened legs and had her thumbs trailing lightly over his shirt collar. Her lip was pulled between her teeth in amusement as she tried to hold back her laughter over the entire interaction. Peter nodded towards Happy who rolled his eyes and walked back into the lobby of the tall tower.  
Peter’s hands found their way back to her hips and pulled her slightly closer. He pressed his lips against hers in a light kiss, “I’ll see you later tonight?” She hummed with a small smile on her face causing Peter to silently cheer before she gave him a small frown.   
Y/n mumbled against his lips, “visiting the parents for the weekend. Rain check.”  
Peter dropped his head against the wall and pouted obnoxiously, “c’mon babe. This is my first weekend that Mr. Stark hasn’t given me some chore or busy work.”  
She poked his chest lightly “yeah and it’s my first weekend without work. You could come with me, you know. They’d love to see you again.”  
Peter clicked his tongue, “you mean your mom would love to see me again. Your dad could go his whole life without seeing me again.”  
She laughed slightly and patted his cheek, “you’re growing on him, I promise. But no worries, I’m excited to get a family weekend.”  
Peter smiled at her enthusiasm and visible happiness, “Well tell them that I say hello and I promise that I’ll join you next time. And tell your brothers they still owe me a rematch in Mario Kart.”  
She bit her lip and nodded as she scrunched her nose, “You’re cute.”  
Peter pecked the tip of her nose, “You’re cuter.”  
An obnoxious cough interrupted the two and Peter lazily lolled his head to the side to see Happy standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, looking even more annoyed than before, if that was possible. Peter nodded noncommittally, “yeah yeah I’m coming.”  
She gave him another small kiss before patting his chest and backing up, “I’ll see you Sunday night.”  
“Okay, text me when you get there safely. Leaving tonight?”  
“Yeah I just have to stop by my apartment and pick up my bag. Then I am out.”  
“Alright. I’ll see you in a few days.” he kissed her just once more, mostly because he couldn’t help himself. “I love you.”  
“Love you too.” Peter was about to go in for yet another kiss when Happy grabbed the back of his collar and began dragging him into the tower. Peter scrambled to get his feet beneath him as he watched Y/n laugh before turning in the direction of her apartment. Peter shook Happy off of him as they entered the lobby. “Geez Hap. And here I was starting to think you were beginning to like me.”  
Happy scoffed as he watched Peter search through his backpack for his key card. Peter finally found it and swiped it through the machine before walking through the metal detector and walking towards the elevator. Peter gave a sloppy wave to Happy as he entered the elegant elevator. Peter waited for the doors to close completely before speaking, “Hey Fri. Avengers floor please.”  
“Of course Mr. Parker.”  
“Aww c’mon now Fri. How many times do I gotta tell ya? It’s supreme being of the tower.”  
“Of course it is Mr. Parker.” Peter rolled his eyes at the somehow evident sarcasm in the AI’s tone. He exited the elevator once the doors opened and walked down the wide hallway to the common room. He found the other avengers scattered around the room. “Hello friends!”  
Bucky rolled his eyes at the boisterous entrance of the boy before returning to his book. Peter dropped his backpack by the door and threw himself onto the couch, plopping his feet on Wanda’s lap. She pursed his lips at his shoed feet and gave him a look. Peter snickered slightly before kicking his shoes off and laying his feet back on her lap.   
Tony entered the room a moment later, “Good the kid’s here.”  
Clint flicked Peter’s ear as he walked by and settled on a plush chair, “finally stopped sucking on your girlfriend’s face I see.”  
Peter scoffed and waved his hand towards the man dramatically, “please... if anything she was sucking on my face. I am an elegant kisser.”  
Sam grimaced, “Can you please shut up parker?”  
“What? Mad you ain’t getting anything?” Peter quipped back easily. Wanda didn’t even try to conceal her laughter but quickly stopped as she watched Sam’s face fall.  
He narrowed his eyes, “I’m getting plenty. Thanks for the concern though pipsqueak.”  
Peter sang mockingly, “I’m taller than you.”  
“Okay you two. Save your hilarious banter for later.” Steve scolded as he walked into the room with Natasha right behind him. “We have more pressing matters to attend to.”  
Everyone perked up slightly and Bucky rose a brow, “what’s going on?”  
Tony took the floor this time, “we’ve got a new alien weapon coming in and I need some help with this one.”  
Sam shrugged as he looked over the file that was tossed onto the table, “isn’t science kind of your forte? What do you need with us?”  
“Well I need some of you to retrieve the weapon.”  
“I thought you said it was being delivered.”  
Tony hesitated, “it is but it’s being delivered to SHIELD for security purposes and I need you three super soldier people to bring it here. I don’t want any SHIELD agent handling it. We don’t know what it does and we don’t know what anyone’s intentions are.”  
Sam frowned slightly, “So you want us to risk ourselves when we don’t know what it does?”  
“Since when is that new.” Bucky retorted.  
“I want you guys to pick it up because I trust you guys.” Tony said seriously, “I know the three of you will get it here without improper use of it.”  
Steve opened the file and thumbed through the pages. “What are the specifics of the gun?”  
Natasha spoke up this time, “We don’t really know any. It was found in a warehouse run by a gang in the Bronx. Standard gang infiltration and take down by some new agents. A type of new training SHIELD is conducting. Well they found this gun and reported it to SHIELD, scientists there ran some tests but everything was inconclusive.”  
“Why? The tests didn’t come back?”  
Natasha shook her head, “They didn’t have the right approach or technology.”  
“They never do…” Tony said as he typed something on his phone.  
Natasha rolled her eyes, “Anyways. They were going to transport it here earlier today but it released a type of energy pulse so they left it alone to be stabilized and it’s been fine since. Tony then decided that it was best if we handled it.”  
Peter sat up almost giddy, “An energy pulse? What did it do? Any effects?”  
“None reported. The agents that were in the vicinity seemed unharmed and were tested. None have reported any abnormalities or anything. They were given a week’s stay in the HQ’s medical to keep an eye on them in case any late occurring effects show. We’ve requested for them to report anything they find immediately.”  
Wanda chewed on her thumbnail. She hated alien tech, and boy was she tired of it. “Do we have the technology and equipment to test it and store it?”  
Tony scoffed and looked towards her, “I’m offended Maximoff. Of course I have the technology for it.”  
She nodded but continued on, “I just don’t like the idea of bringing an unfamiliar alien gun with no known effects that releases energy pulses into the tower. You know the tower that holds 2 super soldiers, an enhanced kid- “not a kid Wanda” – a god sometimes, an android, numerous pieces of highly weaponizable technology, and a witch. How do we know how all of us will interact with an energy pulse like that?”  
Tony sighed, “Well we don’t so yes we’ll be taking a slight risk but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. I have all of the precautions already set up. A containment box has been made and I’m hoping that it’ll be a quick study of the gun.”  
Everyone took time to consider the risks they’d be making and figured that this was the job. They needed to take risks so others were safe. Wanda just gave him a small shrug and nod.  
“So you need me, Sam, and Steve to pick it up?” Bucky asked as he set the files back on the glass desk.  
“Well whoever’s available really but I assumed the three of you would like to take it.”  
Steve shrugged and nodded, “I’m fine with that.” The other two nodded in agreement.  
Tony smiled and picked up the files, “Awesome well Fury is expecting you guys tomorrow. So until then… movie night!”  
“I’m still on the fact that you said three super soldier and were considering me one of them.” Sam said with a cocky smirk making Bucky hit him upside the head. Everyone laughed.  
~.~  
Peter was able to slip out of the tower rather quickly, due to everyone either sleeping or just not paying attention. Peter’s pretty sure that either Nat or Bucky saw him leave but he wasn’t concerned about them telling on him. But now as Peter sat on top of roof, his feet dangling over the side, he got more and more concerned over whether or not an iron man suit would show up in front of his face.  
He put the worries behind him as his phone that was hidden in his thigh pocket began to buzz. He quickly unzipped the pocket and fished out the small piece of technology. A smile broke out beneath his mask as he answered the phone and held it up to his ear.  
“hey babe.”  
“Hey Peter.”  
“How are you? How’s your family?”  
“Peter? Uh I don’t know if you can hear me but I can’t hear you.”  
Peter chuckled slightly as he laid back on the brick roof, pulling his mask up and off his head. He smiled as he talked, “hear me now?”  
“Yeah, perfectly. Where were you?”  
“I’m out patrolling. My mask was on. So how’s your family?”  
“They’re really good. My mom made that lasagna that I really like so I was kind of glad you weren’t there so I got more. I know how you can eat.” Peter let out a harsh laugh as she giggled, “But no they’re all really good. My dad is a little stressed over some big thing that’s happening at the station. How’s it there? Stopping crime?”  
Peter shrugged slightly, kicking his legs back in forth where they hung over the edge. “Not that much crime out right now. Guess it’s the changing weather. Even criminals get cold. But everything is good over here. The team is good, they’re all at the tower watching awful movies.”  
Y/n giggled again, “and you aren’t there with them? How are you gonna bond with them?”  
“Trust me, I do not need to bond with them. Plus, it’s nice out here on these rooftops. The lack of criminals plus the minimal stars is truly amazing.”   
“But…?”  
Peter sighed, “But it’d be better if you were here.” Peter laughed, “Look at what you’ve done to me Y/n. I’m now all sappy and stupid in love because of you.”  
She rolled her eyes, “wow I’m so sorry for your loss.” There was a small lull in the conversation, “Well I have to help my brother with his homework and then I’m going to go to bed.” Y/n let out a breathy laugh, “my mom has a full day planned for the two of us tomorrow, so I need to get mentally ready for that.”  
Peter smiled, “I’m sure it’s going to be great. Well I’ll let you go so you can sleep. Tell your family I say hi.”  
“I will. Goodnight Peter. I love you.”  
“I love you too.” Peter didn’t really want to hang up but eventually he heard that tone that met the call was over. He sighed slightly and turned his phone back off, shoving it in his pocket and pulling his mask back over his face. A siren began to wail in the distance.  
Peter stood up and shook the dust off of his suit and shaking out his limbs. “Time to work.”  
~.~  
Peter eventually got back to the tower just before the sun was above the horizon. He didn’t mean to get back so late but he just carried away with swinging through the city feeling the crisp air fly around him. He loved being out there and as the moon rose higher Peter just got more and more restless. It wasn’t until the sky began to turn a light shade of pink that Peter began his travel home and came in through the open window to his room. He had closed the window quietly and peeled off his suit, throwing it in a pile near his closet. He crawled under the covers with just a pair of sweatpants on and quickly fell asleep.  
~.~  
“Kid, get up we got sciencing to do. Bruce is already in the lab!” Tony called through the crack in the door. Peter stirred around in the bed, slowly opening and rubbing at his eyes.  
“What time is it?”  
“Almost 2 in the afternoon. Get up, the guys just brought the gun and I want to start looking at it.”  
Peter swiped the covers off of him and threw his legs over one side of the bed, “Start without me. I’ll be down in a little bit.” Tony nodded and headed down towards the lab as Peter went to his bathroom to shower.  
Thirty minutes later Peter walked into the lab to see Bruce, Tony, and Vision standing quite close to the glass box that held the gun. Peter lightly knocked on the door frame to not disturb the men and entered the pristine lab. “So what’s going on with the gun?”  
Bruce shrugged and moved his glasses up slightly on his nose, “not completely sure yet. Nothing seems unusual about it actually. It just seems like a military grade gun.”  
“Then how do we know its alien?” Peter asked as he stepped closer.  
Vision pointed to a small glowing blue cube, “that. We believe it something akin to the tesseract.”  
“Is it the tesseract?”  
Tony shook his head, “not completely. It doesn’t have the same readings as the scepter or the tesseract but its close.”  
“Sir, Captain Rogers is requesting Dr. Banner and your presence in the conference room. Something about General Ross.”  
“Thanks Friday, tell Steve we’ll be up in a minute.”  
“Captain Rogers says it’s urgent.”  
Tony rolled his eyes, “yeah yeah I’m coming.” Tony threw his eye glasses on the table and walked towards the door with Bruce behind him. He looked back at Peter and Vision, “don’t do anything stupid. In fact, don’t do anything. Wait til we come back.”  
Peter just waved him off, “don’t worry about it Mr. Stark.”  
A moment later Friday came back over the speakers, “Mr. Vision, Ms. Maximoff is requesting your presence in the common kitchen for a moment.”  
Peter saw Vision have the faintest ghost of a smile as he nodded, “Please tell her that I’m on my way up. Don’t touch anything Peter.” And soon enough Peter was left in the lab unsupervised with an alien weapon. But of course, he wasn’t stupid so he just pulled out his phone and sat down on a nearby stool.  
Peter: hey I’m bored. What are you doing?  
Y/n: hey bored, I’m Y/n :P  
Peter: oh you think you’re so cute don’t you.  
Y/n: yeah kind of. What’s up?  
Peter shifted on the stool slightly causing a jar of pencils to go clattering to the floor. He winced at the loud sound of metal on metal and set his phone down to pick up the canister. As soon as his fingertips touched the cool metal, his Spidey senses flared dramatically. He looked up towards the gun to see a growing blue light surround the weapon.  
Nerves grew in Peter’s stomach, “Friday tell Mr. Stark to get down here immediately. Tell him something is up with the gun.”  
“Mr. Parker I advise you to leave the room before something goes wrong.”  
Peter glanced around before nodding, “yeah that sounds smart.” Peter stepped off of the stool before the gun emitting a loud piercing nose and the blue light soared across the room. Peter shielded his eyes and face. He lowered his arms as the energy around him settled down.  
“Kid you okay?” Tony said breathlessly as he came down the stairs.  
Peter nodded sloppily. He swayed slightly on his feet, “just peachy… Mr. Stark I don’t feel so good.” And with that Peter collapsed. Tony barely managed to catch his head before he hit the hard tiled floor. Tony called out to the team and for the med bay to be prepared immediately.  
Y/n: you there Pete?  
~.~  
“I told you this was a bad idea.” Wanda said frantically as she paced the hospital room, “we had no idea what that thing does and now Peter’s here in a hospital bed.” She whirled on her heel to face Tony, “what part of you thought this was smart?!”  
Bucky was immediately in front of her, his large hands lightly placed on her shoulders practically keeping her from jumping the genius. He whispered quietly, “go walk around the tower. Calm yourself down.”  
Wanda didn’t acknowledge the fact that he said anything but instead just turned sharply on her heel and bounded out of the room angrily. Vision followed the fuming girl until the rest of the team could no longer hear her.   
Sam lifted his head from his hands to share a humorless chuckle, “if Peter was awake I bet he’d be like ‘whoa there Bucky you’ve got a girlfriend who could kill you a thousand different ways if you keep looking at Wanda like that.’” The team could appreciate the idea of the joke but it fell flat on Sam’s tongue.  
“You said it wrong.” Peter’s voice was hoarse and cracked as he rubbed his heavy eyelids, “that delivery wasn’t even funny.” Everyone was around his bedside immediately.  
Steve smiled at the boy, “hey kid. How you feeling?”  
“Like you dropped an airport loading tunnel on me and I didn’t catch it.” He sent a wink Steve’s way before turning to Sam, “And that’s how you make a joke.”  
“We were getting worried you wouldn’t wake up.” Clint said as he checked his watch, “we’re going on hour 7.”  
Natasha scoffed, “Please. Dr. Cho said he was fine. Plus he’s a spider. We’ve got that special thing, we don’t die.”  
Peter laughed slightly and raised his hand for a fist bump, “heck yeah.” he smirked at the team, “it’s a spider thing.” Natasha didn’t return the fist bump and just shook her head at the younger boy.  
Tony looked at the boy with guilt in his eyes, “but you feel alright?”  
“I’m really tired but other than that, yeah I feel fine.”  
Tony nodded and chewed on his thumbnail, “okay that’s good. I’m gonna go continue working.” He left the room before anyone could protest causing Peter to sigh.  
“I’m gonna take another nap but please don’t let Tony blame himself. I’m fine.” The team nodded and wished Peter good health before leaving the room. Peter sighed at the now empty space, feeling the heaviness of his head already take over his body. He vaguely remembered the feeling of needed to text or call someone but he just blamed it on the fogginess of his memory at the moment. He shrugged internally and closed his eyes, letting an even deeper sleep overtake him.  
~.~  
Peter woke up to the sun shining brightly in his eyes. God how long did I sleep? He groaned slightly as he tried to shield his eyes. The sunlight always gave him headaches this early, especially with his enhanced eyesight. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he sat up. He opened his eyes carefully, finding his vision to be blurry. He wiped his eyes once more, panic slowly rising in his gut as his vision didn’t clear up. Peter’s breath came in short pants as he ran his hands through his hair.  
A knock on the door paused his movements. “Hey Peter, Friday said you wanted to see me.”  
Peter silently thanked the AI for sending Wanda his way. He was way more comfortable talking to her about this. He began nervously, “Wanda I need you to do me a favor.”  
She stepped into the room, “Sure what’s up?”  
“Can you do it no questions asked?”  
She hesitated, “Um…. sure? Peter what’s going on?”  
“I need you to go into my room and find a cardboard box in the back of closet, it has a lot of my old stuff. There should be a pair of glasses in there. I need you to get them.”  
Wanda let out a small laugh, “why do you need your glasses?”  
Peter narrowed his eyes at her, “I said no questions asked.”  
Wanda rolled her eyes, “Okay whatever. Yeah I’ll bring you the glasses. Need anything else?”  
“If anyone asks, I’m sleeping. I don’t want to talk to anyone yet.”  
Wanda just shook her head at the boy, “Sure… whatever you say Peter.” Peter was a jittery mess the few minutes Wanda was gone. She had returned rather quickly and handed the glasses to Peter. He quickly slipped them on his face and felt tears pull to the surface as his vision cleared. He frowned deeply and rolled one of his thumbs over the other, not making eye contact with the concerned Wanda.  
“Peter, what is going on?”  
He glanced up at her, “I think I know what the gun does.”  
~.~  
“How do we even test it?” Bucky asked  
Peter let out a small chuckle, “We could drop a building on me. That’ll show us pretty quickly.” He noticed their frowns at his lame joke, “Right got it. Not funny. Not the time for joking.”  
“Is there a way to… you know… test it? Without you hurting yourself?”  
“How much could you lift before?” Sam looked at the kid  
“Not that much. Never really lifted weights then. And we don’t have an exact number now either.”   
“Let’s just take him to the gym then.” Sam suggested as if it were nothing, “Can’t lift the weights… there’s the answer.”  
“You talk about this like it isn’t something inside my body.” Peter said with a small scowl. Frustration was beginning to bubble within him.  
“Peter…” Steve started slowly, “Trust me. I understand. But that is the place we should start. We’ll test your strength first and take it from there.”  
Suddenly a small cheerio came flying through the air and hit Peter in the temple. He lightly touched the spot it hit and looked over to see Natasha, her face paler than before. “Peter…”  
“I’ve got to go.” this was all too real for him. He couldn’t handle this. He quickly walked from the kitchen area, despite his team’s yelling and bounded down the stairs. He found himself on the street quickly, but still slower than usual though and more out of breath. He shoved his hands in his sweatpants pockets and walked down the street. It was weird for him. Sure, he still walked all the time but the fact that he couldn’t do anything else even if he wanted to… he didn’t like that.   
His hands were shaking inside his pockets, his fingers itching to do something other than pick at his nails. He found himself headed back in the direction of his old apartment, the familiar streets comforting him. He paused on a corner and took a look around. He hated how his feet just took him wherever. He knew exactly where he was but he wasn’t entirely too sure that he was happy about it. He took slow precise steps down the street before pausing in front of a convenient store. He took a large breath before entering through the doors, the harsh lights not hurting his eyes as he expected them too. A small bell dinged above him causing the bored cashier to look up. Peter didn’t make eye contact as he began to wander aimlessly down the aisles. He paused every now and then, imagining what his uncle was actually looking for when the two of them went in there.   
“Hey! If you’re not gonna buy anything…” The cashier let the sentence dangle but Peter filled in the blanks. He just nodded and left the store, not realizing how long he had actually been in there. Stopping to lean against the outside wall, he braced himself with his hands on his knees. His breath came heavy. His phone began to vibrate in his pocket and Peter really didn’t want to look at his phone, but he did. It was Y/n. He didn’t know if he could handle it, but he also realized he needed some normalcy.   
“Hey babe.” his voice came out breathy.  
“Hey, just calling to see what’s up.”  
Peter dropped into a crouch, still leaning against the brick wall. “Not much. Me and Tony were working in the lab. It went… well.” He decided not to tell her the truth.  
“That’s good. I hear some traffic, where are you right now?”  
He didn’t even glance around, “Just getting some coffee. How’s your family?”  
“Good. My dad is even more stressed than last night so it’s kind of good that you didn’t come… no offense.” Peter found himself laughing, “But mom is really good. Happy to have me back.”  
“Of course she is. What about your brothers?”  
“They’re good. They’re stressed with school but I’m able to help them out which is nice.” Peter had a small smile gracing his face, and silent tears streaming down his cheeks. He didn’t know what was going to happen.  
“That’s really sweet of you.”  
“You doing okay, Peter?” he could practically hear her smile. He couldn’t ruin her day.  
“Yep… everything is great. Just kind of tired. Miss you of course.”  
“Don’t worry Mr. Clingy. I’ll be home late tomorrow.”  
Peter swallowed, “Take your time. Have fun with your family.”  
“I will. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Peter nodded weakly, “I love you.”  
“Love you too.”   
“Come back to the tower.” The voice should have surprised him. He had no previous warning of a person standing next to him. But it was Nat’s voice. And she had always been able to sneak up on him.   
“I just… I need some time.”  
“To do what?”  
“I don’t know…” Peter flailed his arms around as he stood upright, “Adjust?”  
“Adjust to what?” She turned to face him, lowering the tinted glasses off her eyes. “You don’t even know if anything has changed.”  
“And maybe I don’t want to know! What happened to ignorance is bliss?!”  
“That went away when you became Spiderman.” She lowered her voice, “you know that.”  
He didn’t say anything but his thoughts were running wild. Well that’s fitting…  
His tears were flowing more steadily now. “Peter.” her voice was uncharacteristically soft. “Come back to the tower. We’ll sort this all out. We’ll help you… I promise.”  
He inhaled deeply, “I just can’t right now.”  
“Ok.” She shoved her hands into her sweatshirt, “Where are we going?”  
“I appreciate what you’re doing Nat. But can’t I just be alone?”  
“Nope.” Her p popped loudly, “You don’t have a tracker on you and you’re much harder to find when you’re out as Peter Parker. Plus, I want to know that you’re okay.”  
Peter started slowly down the street, “if I’m so hard to find then how did you do it so easily?” She looked back at the convenience store. He scoffed, “Am I that predictable?”  
“I’m a master spy. Don’t flatter yourself.”  
~.~  
“Are you ready to do this now?”  
Peter jogged in place a little, “as ready as I’ll ever be. I’m pretty sure it’s all gone though.”  
“You don’t know that.” Wanda said as she came up to him  
“Just take it slow Peter.” Steve said as he lifted and moved weights around, “we’ll start with fifty.”  
“I probably couldn’t lift more than a hundred.” he flexed slightly, “but I’ve retained some muscle.”  
“We’ll start slow.” Steve reiterated. Peter laid down on the bench, oddly nervous, and began to chest press the bar. No problem. 50 pounds… he could do this. “Now 75.” Steve continued to spot the younger boy.  
“More.” Peter said after a few reps.  
“Okay…” He picked up the weights, “100.” He noticed Peter’s arms begin to shake slightly and moved to help him but backed off at the boy’s command.  
“More.” His voice came out strained.  
“Peter look….” He hesitated, “Let’s stop before you hurt yourself.”  
“more.” the word came with more fierceness this time. Steve hesitated but eventually raised the weight to 130. “You can do this Peter. This is nothing. You’ve stopped a bus before.” The words came out muffled and quiet but Steve still picked them up.  
He put his hands under the bar and took it from the boy, quickly setting it back into place. “Stop it Peter.”  
Peter shot up, “what do you mean stop it?! I could’ve kept going.”  
“You’re going to hurt yourself.”  
“At 130?! That’s pathetic!” He was pointing and throwing his arms around. A habit he had when he was nervous  
“Peter. I know this is scary. I’ve been there. Being one person and then another just the next day. I get it—” Peter snapped.  
“No Steve! You don’t!” Peter yelled back, “maybe you can relate to me getting my powers but you can’t relate to this. I had that experience already! I woke up one morning with abs and strength and good eyesight and super hearing and reflexes and sticky fingers! I already transformed from a scrawny nerd to a superhero! You were never teased with the sense of responsibility and greatness only to have it stripped from you. None of you understand!” Peter whipped around with tears streaming down his face and stormed back to his room.  
“What are we gonna do?”  
~.~  
“Hey.” Wanda held the phone to her ear as she paced around the room  
“Hey Wanda, what’s up?”   
“Have you talked to Peter today?”  
“Yeah called him earlier, why?”  
Wanda sighed a breath of relief, “What did he say?”  
“Not much. Just talk about the team.” Y/n let out a small laugh, “I did most of the talking.”  
Wanda grimaced and bit her thumbnail. She had no other option. “How far away are you?”  
“An hour? Why? Is everything okay?”  
She sighed, “Not really. In fact… I think Peter needs you right now. I feel really bad taking you from your family and I don’t want to tell you too much.”  
“What happened?”  
“Something happened to Spiderman…” Wanda hesitated, “Peter lost his powers.”


	2. Adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more shit happens

“Something happened to Spiderman…” Wanda hesitated, “Peter lost his powers.”  
“Peter?” Peter swore he heard Y/n’s voice, but she was supposed to be with her family at least for a few more hours. “Peter will you open the door.”  
“I can’t.” he sniffed as he looked towards the door, “Not right now.”  
“Okay, that’s okay Peter. I’m just gonna sit right here until you’re ready for me. I’m right here.” he saw her shadow shift slightly before seeing her body against the door. “I’m right here.”  
~.~  
“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” He had practically collapsed beside her, heavy tears falling from his eyes. She quickly pulled him to her, neither caring they were half in the hallway and half not. Y/n gripped the back of his shirt and ran her other hand through his hair.   
“Peter you don’t need to apologize. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” She held him tight and repeated the words until he calmed down.  
~.~  
It had been a week since the accident and Peter was… not sitting well. He was constantly fidgeting and tapping and just plain nervous. He hated not knowing when people were coming up behind him or when things were gonna hit him. And he certainly hated not being able to help the people of New York.   
“I like your glasses.” Peter blushed slightly and hid his face opting to instead look out across the New York skyline.  
“you’re finally getting to see the old me. Nerd and all.”  
“I like it. It suits you. You’re one of those hot nerds.”  
He smirked slightly and looked at her, “you think I’m hot?” She laughed and slapped his arm.  
“Shut up you dork.” She suddenly stopped and snapped her fingers, “Can’t you still use your web shooters? I mean those are just science.”  
Peter shook his head sadly, “After I upgraded the webbing the force of shooting the web is too much. You need superhero strength to handle it.”  
“How do you know?”  
Peter’s lip quirked up on one side, “Clint took them once a few years ago and tried to use them and just got knocked right off his feet. And he’s much stronger than I am right now. The only people that can use it are me, Steve, Bucky, and Mr. Stark when he has the suit on.” He paused before letting out a breath, “Wow…”  
“What?”  
“I became Spiderman 6 years ago. 6 years! That’s crazy.”  
“Certainly is a long time.” Y/n knew this was a sensitive subject for him, but she pressed on gently anyways, “have you thought about what you’re going to do if he doesn’t come back?”  
“I don’t really want to think about it.” He fiddled with his fingers, “Mr. Stark and Bruce are still analyzing the weapon… it’s just going slower than expected.”  
“How so?”  
“Mr. Stark thought he’d have it figured out in the first few days but now they don’t know what will set it off. They’re just tiptoeing around it at this point.”  
“Do they know what set it off the last time?”  
“They think it was the pencil jar falling, the noise triggered it. It was almost a defense mechanism… like it was protecting itself.”  
Y/n hummed for a moment, “What would that do…? To the hulk?”  
Peter shrugged, “We don’t know and we don’t want to find out.”  
“Doesn’t Bruce want to know though?” Peter looked at her confused. She explained further, “I mean he told me that he’s been looking for a cure for the past decade or so. Of course, it takes a back seat for other purposes but he’s never really stopped.”  
“How do you know this?”  
She gave him an incredulous look, “I’m a biochemical engineer who comes over and hangs out with the world’s most famous people and you think I’m not going to talk to the Bruce Banner. Bitch please.” They shared a small laugh before she continued, “I mean… I doubt he would do anything. But you aren’t worried that he might see this as his way out? His way to just be Bruce again.”  
“Would that work?”  
“We don’t know.” The voice startled both Peter and Y/n, neither one of them not used to having a warning.  
Y/n smacked his arm slightly, “I didn’t realize I relied on your senses so much.”  
He twisted around slightly to face Natasha. “What’s up?”  
“Fury called a meeting.” She narrowed her eyes slightly, “And you’re not supposed to go anywhere without your comms in case we need you.”  
Peter scoffed and stood up, “Yeah like I could be much help. And I didn’t even leave the building.” He grabbed Y/n’s hand and helped her stand up, the two following after Natasha back to the elevator.  
Nat glanced back at the two almost regretfully, “I noticed you were a lot less close to the edge than usual.”  
Peter frowned, “That was when I knew I could catch myself if I fell.”  
“You could always go back to your old formula. The one that could be handled by anyone?”  
Peter shook his head slowly, “Wouldn’t do me much good. Can barely throw a punch, and the no Spidey sense is really hard to adjust to.”  
“Whatever you say.” The trio stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallway towards the conference room. Peter spun to face Y/n.  
She rolled her eyes, “I know I know… confidential and what not.”  
“Bruce is in his lab if you want to hang out with him.” Nat supplied, “he won’t be in the meeting.”  
Y/n perked up, “that’s a great idea! I actually need some help with my thesis.” She gave Peter a small peck on the cheek and turned in the opposite direction. Nat and Peter entered the room and sat down.  
Fury walked in a moment later, “Mr. Parker… I got word of your situation.”  
Peter spun languidly in the chair, “yes?”  
“What were you planning on doing?” Peter was already tired of this conversation and instead lolled his head to face Tony.  
Tony caught the hint, “Me and Bruce are working on reversing the blast from the gun. Currently though, we don’t know how long it will be until we have results.”  
“And until then?”  
“Peter stays out of trouble and Spiderman takes a little break.” Steve answered firmly, “Is there anything else?”  
“Actually captain, there is. I’ve discove—” all of a sudden the lights turned off, casting the room into darkness.   
“Friday?” Tony’s voice came across slightly panicked. All of the heroes tensed. The emergency lights flickered on, casting a red hue over the entire room. “Friday?”  
“Systems are offline.” Natasha said.  
“Friday is on a separate system to avoid things like this.” Tony immediately stood up and went to a control panel hidden behind a light switch. He ripped it off the wall and pressed the button that was previously hidden. An iron man suit came flying in a minute later, leds lighting up the room. He stepped into the suit as Steve grabbed his shield from the corner of the room, and the rest cocked some pistols.   
“What do I do?” Peter whisper yelled.  
“Don’t die.” Steve said as he strutted past the younger man. Right as he went to pull the door open, the lights came back on.   
“Friday?”  
“It appears someone tampered with our systems. But everything is alright now sir.”  
“Connect me to Bruce will ya?”  
“Yes, sir.”   
“Tony?” Tony’s helmet disabled around his face and everyone relaxed slightly. “Tony, what was that?”  
“I’m not sure. Is everything okay down there?”  
“Yeah… nobody came in and nothing was taken. It’s just me down here.”  
“Just you?” Peter asked suddenly worried, “You didn’t see Y/n?”  
“Y/n? No, I haven’t seen her all day.” Peter and Natasha shared worried looks. Panic began to rise in Peter’s stomach.  
Natasha took control and laid a hand on his shoulder, “Maybe she was in the elevator. Friday?”  
“It would seem that Ms. y/l/n is no longer in the building.”  
“What?!” Peter yelled, “Where is she?”  
“I do not know, sir.” Peter wobbled on his feet slightly.  
Tony stepped out of his suit and walked to the end of the table, “Friday pull up her last known whereabouts on the feed.”  
A picture came up showing Y/n entering the elevator. Then the elevator stopped and the lights went out, casting the entire video into darkness. The lights stayed off longer than they should have before they came back on. No emergency red lights were seen, and Y/n was gone.  
Peter couldn’t breathe. He heard people talking to and around him but he couldn’t grasp a word they were saying. A small hand laid on his shoulder but he just shrugged it off. His eyesight was blurry and his center of gravity was off. He doubled over, hands resting on his knees as his breaths came out labored.  
“Guys… I think he’s gonna—” Wanda didn’t get to finish her statement as he fell to the side and Steve lunged to catch him before he hit the ground.  
~.~  
Peter’s head hurt when he woke up. He could tell he was in his bed, but he couldn’t remember how he got there. His jeans were still on and he had a cold sweat over his body. When everything came rushing back, he sat up with a jolt.  
“Friday! Friday! Where’s everybody?!” Peter scrambled to find his suit in the mess of his room, “We need to find Y/n. She’s in danger.”  
“Mr. Parker, the avengers are out looking for her right now. I was instructed to let you know and advise you to stay here. You passed out from shock and fear, they presume.” Peter calmed down slightly as he heard that the avengers were out but he wished it was himself instead.   
“Have... have they found her?”  
“I can patch you through to boss if you would like me to?”  
Peter thought about it for a moment, “No… that’s okay.” He breathed deeply before pushing his hair away from his face, “they’re the strongest people on earth. They’ve got this.” Peter stood up from his bed and walked into the common room. He hated being alone in the tower, always had. It was just too empty and quiet compared to when everyone was gathered together. He had just settled on the couch and turned on the TV when a live broadcast took over.  
“Spider-man… I have something you want.”  
a/n: sorry that was a short chapter, the next is much longer


	3. Scavenger Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter just needs a hug really

“Spider-man… I have something you want.”  
Peter’s blood ran cold as the video panned over to Y/n who continued to hold her head high despite the fear in her eyes. She had a bruise forming around her right eye and blood spotted on her bottom lip. Her wrists were bound behind her back and her feet were tied to the chair she was currently sitting in. There was a gag in her mouth. Peter sprung to his feet, running to get his suit on immediately.  
“Spider-man… this is a live video that is playing on every news station and screen available. Every billboard in Times Square, every phone in civilians’ hands, every radio and TV station… they will see your beloved Y/n Y/l/n die if you don’t listen to every instruction I give.” Peter watched on the TV in his room as Dr. Connors appeared with a sinister grin. “Meet me in Time Square in thirty minutes or…” he glanced back to Y/n, “well you can guess.”  
“Mr. Parker, Sir is calling you.”  
“Decline.” Peter’s voice came out rough and gritted as he pulled on his civilian clothes over his Spiderman suit and shoved his mask into his backpack. He slung it over his shoulder and sprinted down the steps of the tall tower, and continued running the short distance to Times Square. He saw the hordes of people stopped and staring at the billboards and then to the sky as numerous avengers began to appear in the sky overhead. Peter pulled up his hood and dropped his head. He knew what Dr. Connors was looking for, and if he let Y/n get hurt due to his stupidity… he would never let himself live it down.  
The mad scientist came back onto the screen, “I’m glad you followed my orders Spider-man. But I see you didn’t show up as you… I’m proud. You remembered our little game. Citizens of New York!” His voice bellowed out of every speaker nearby, “We’ve been missing a certain web slinger for the past week. No one knew why, until now. Our friendly neighborhood Spiderman,” he spat out every word, “has lost his powers.” Gasps rippled through the crowd.  
He continued, “He is just an ordinary boy. But this is no ordinary girl, you see. This is Y/n y/l/n. Not only is she the daughter of former police captain but she has a special relationship with Spidey. And if he doesn’t cooperate then at 6:30 pm her body will be dropped from the bell tower of St. Margaret’s church. You know the one.” Y/n’s eyes filled with terror and her body tensed against its restraints. “So… Spidey. You know where to meet me. It’s where we first met. Just you and me. You have twenty minutes.”  
Peter could still see the avengers with the ability of flight soaring through the sky scanning the people below them. They were looking for him, trying to stop him from doing something stupid. He noticed Sam tuck his wings and turn tightly around, heading towards the large church in search of Y/n. Peter shook his head and fell into the crowd of people. He knew that Y/n wouldn’t be there. He quickened his steps as he walked towards what might be the place of his demise. He had shit to do.  
~.~  
“Can anyone see him?” Tony barked out from his spot above the pointing crowd  
“Nothing.” Bucky muttered as he pushed through the crowd.   
“He should be here!” Steve growled out into the comms.  
“That guy said that this was a game.” Wanda stated, looking down back alleys for him. “They’ve done this before.”  
“So Peter’s not here?”  
“He said that Spiderman showed up but not as ‘him’.” Natasha muttered and then it clicked, “he’s not out as Spiderman.”  
“Fuck.” Steve muttered, “We’re never going to find him.” He turned his head towards the sky as Sam began to fly back in, “Sam?”  
“She’s not there. Nobody is.”  
“It’s a game guys.” Wanda repeated, heading towards the rendezvous point. “Nothing is going to be straight forward. Stark, don’t you have some kind of tracking on his suit?”  
“If he even has the suit…” Tony muttered, “But it’s only activated when he has the mask on.”  
“Well we know he’s going to confront this guy either way. We’re just gonna have to wait.” Sam suggested.  
“Not gonna happen.” Bucky growled out.  
“Bucky’s right.” Clint said, “let’s find out everything we can about this guy.”  
“We can’t waste time going back and forth between the tower and here.” Natasha met Bucky’s eyes from across the crowd and nodded slightly. “Meet me and Bucky on the corner of Broadway and 7th. I have a plan.”  
~.~  
“Seriously guys?” Tony said with a raised eyebrow as he stepped through the doorway into the small apartment. Natasha rolled her eyes and walked to a small linen closet.  
“We don’t tell you everything Stark.”  
Tony sat down in an office chair and spun around slowly, “but maybe you should.”  
Wanda picked up a throw pillow with a small smirk, “it’s cute.”  
Bucky fought back a groan, “don’t make us regret this.”  
Clint folded his arms and leaned against the wall, “so what’s the point of this. Why are we here?”  
Natasha pulled out 2 large metal briefcases from the closet and set them on the dining room table, “It’s close to times square and St. Margaret. We can use this as a base until we know for sure what is happening. It saves time and energy.”  
“We have more resources at the tower.” Tony drawled out in a complain  
Steve rolled his eyes, “Natasha has everything we need right here, and I know you have your mobile computer with you. You take it everywhere.”  
Tony grumbled under his breath but still pulled out a rectangular device. He flicked it in the open space causing blue holographic projections of the news to appear. Wanda and Clint took a step closer to examine each broadcast and headline. Anything that could give them a clue.  
They all worked in silence for a while, trying to solve the mystery when Tony spoke up, “A secret apartment? Really?” Everyone groaned in annoyance, “next thing we know, you’ll be telling us that you two are married.”  
Natasha walked by him with a stack of reports. She sent him a devious wink, “maybe we are.” She sat down at the table with the folders and opened them up one by one.  
Steve, who had been looking over her shoulder, stopped her movements. “Check out this one.”  
“But you guys aren’t… right?” Tony turned to Bucky who was concentrating on the profile of Dr. Connors, “married, I mean.” Bucky glanced up at the older man but offered no answer as he just got back to work.  
“What’s important about this one?”  
“Look at these.” He spread out the photos of a fight that Spiderman had been in a few years ago.  
“What about them?” Wanda asked as she came up to the table. “It’s just Peter fighting a big lizard.”  
“Right but look at this one.” Steve repositioned a grainy photo of Peter fighting a large lizard who had a shredded lab coat on his back.  
Clint picked up the photo and looked at it closer, “I remember this. It was something with Oscorp before they went out of business. SHIELD try to uncover the details, but everything was pretty much burned to the ground.”  
“Gross… Oscorp.” Tony said with an exaggerated gag  
“Do you remember anything else about it?” Steve asked Clint. Behind them Bucky’s eyes had widened as he read a particular file sheet.  
Clint scratched his head like the old man he was. “I think that this lizard guy was some guy who experimented on himself. Went completely wrong, as they always do. But after the battle with Spiderman he didn’t show up for a while. We assumed he died.”  
“Guys…”  
“Why hasn’t anyone asked Peter about this?” Wanda asked  
“It never came up, I guess.” Natasha supplied  
“Guys…”  
“Well after all of this is over we need to get more details on this.”  
“Agreed.”  
“Guys!” everyone turned to Bucky who had grown paler. “The lizard is Dr. Connors.”  
“What?”  
“Look here.” Bucky showed them all the written report on the scientist, “He was a scientist at Oscorp for years and then he suddenly went off the grid after that incident. He lost an arm from an accident and his main topic of research was regeneration of tissue.”  
It clicked for Tony, “he tried to regrow his arm and turned himself into a lizard.”  
Wanda furrowed her brows, “please connect the dots.”  
Tony swiveled to face her, “lizards have a regenerative property. Dr. Connors probably studied them and mixed their genetic makeup with something else producing a mix of the super soldier, hulk, and Spiderman serum. He injected it into himself and it went wrong.”  
“Meaning that he turned into a big ass lizard?” Steve asked, obviously still not convinced.  
“Think about it. This doctor guy suddenly disappears after this incident with a large lizard which is the animal he happened to experiment on. Then he suddenly comes back looking for revenge on Spiderman?” Bucky said, “It’s obviously him.”  
“Okay but how would he know Peter’s identity? Or his connection to Y/n?”  
Wanda smacked her forehead, “Y/n had an internship with Oscorp back in Highschool. She literally worked next to the guy.”  
“Okay but Peter and she weren’t dating back then.”  
“But they were still friends.” Wanda supplied, “she told me that her and Peter would sometimes meet up for lunch during her break and talk about all this sciencey stuff. Dr. Connors even approached Peter about him working there full time.”  
“But he decline because he had an ‘internship’ with Tony Stark.” Natasha supplied. Wanda nodded at her.  
“Okay but how does he know that Peter is Spiderman?”  
“Ladies and gentlemen! The main act has arrived!” The TV which had not been previously on, switched to life with the live broadcast.  
Clint frowned deeply as he stared at the television, “oh shit here we go.”  
~.~  
Peter froze as the broadcast came over his phone.  
“Hello there Spiderman! Still dressed as a civilian I see… good boy.” Dr. Connors’s voice was chilling. He continued on, “I’m proud of you for going where I wanted you to, but you aren’t finished yet.”  
“Leave her alone!” Peter’s voice came out rough and hoarse.  
“Tsk tsk tsk. Not so impatient young man. But congratulations are in order as you have solved my previous riddle. But alas neither I nor this fair maiden is there.” Peter moved to turn around and walk right back out of the sewer, but Dr. Connors’s voice stopped him. “Awww, don’t leave yet Spidey. In fact, I don’t think you can.” He laugh maniacally, “I have a camera on you right now. You turn around… you reveal who you are.”   
Everyone tensed. Everyone in that apartment full of superheroes, everyone on the streets of New York, everyone who had a radio in their car, everyone who was hearing this tightened their muscles.  
Natasha, though nervous for the boy, still had her mind in spy mode and took notice that Peter seemed to be in an abandoned subway tunnel.  
“He has his backpack.” Wanda whispered, “That means he has his suit.” At least that was some good news.  
“But Spiderman you seemed to overlook a few key details. Yes… it is true. I wanted you to end up where you are, but that isn’t where we first met. Think hard, Spidey. You can do it… you’re a smart boy.”  
“Why don’t you just reveal my identity now? Why do this? What’s your end game?” Peter called, his back still turned to the camera  
“What’s all the fun with that?” he cackled loudly. “You have 30 minutes to get where you need to be. And please… do show up as Spiderman. It’ll just make it that much more dramatic.” The screens went blank and it took a few moments for the shock to wear off.  
Peter got moving immediately. He knew exactly where he had to go.  
~.~  
“Where is he going?” Tony asked in frustration as he slammed down some paper on the table  
Steve pressed a finger to his ear, “Sam? Status?”  
“Empty.” The voice came back static, but everyone still heard the message. They deflated.   
“If he isn’t at the Oscorp building and he isn’t at his apartment, then where could that fucking mad man be?”  
Natasha sat in silence, fingers pressed together as she thought over everything. She turned to Bucky who was in a similar position as her, “where did Y/n intern?”  
“Oscorp Industries.” Bucky replied stoically.  
“Yeah I know that. But where? Which location.”  
“What do you mean which location?” Natasha rolled her eyes at her sometimes clueless boyfriend and pulled some papers closer to her. She checked them over once, twice, and then a third time again. Something wasn’t adding up. Click.  
She opened her laptop quickly and typed out a quick google search. She let a small smile slip over her lips. “Boy oh boy, are you guys lucky to have me on the team.”  
“What do you mean? What did you find?”  
Natasha turned her laptop around as everyone crowded around, “The location listed under Y/n’s place of work is the Oscorp in Midtown. But if you go through the records of their listed employees she isn’t listed there.”  
“An unpaid intern?” Wanda asked. Natasha shook her head and pulled Dr. Connors’s file closer.  
“Look at his. Place of work, same building Red Division.” She pointed to something on her screen, “This Oscorp building was very open to the public. It had tours and interns and schematics online, but as we know Oscorp was into some very shady stuff.”  
“They had a secret division with a secret building.” Tony said as he smacked his forehead, “how could we be so stupid?”  
“But we would have found out about that when Oscorp fell.” Clint pointed out.  
“Not if it was listed under a different name. That Oscorp building was organized into 3 colors or access levels: blue, green, purple. And if Y/n was as high up as she is labeled as, she would be in blue. There is no red.”  
“Then where did Connors work?” Wanda asked, studying the file and still not making sense of anything.  
“Here.” She typed out a quick search and spun the screen back around towards her teammates.  
“Location not found?” Clint gave her a look  
“Exactly. It doesn’t exist… anymore.”  
“Wait… that address. That seems familiar.”  
Bucky looked at the paper, “that’s because it was the Red Line Grocery Market back when we were kids. We worked there for two summers.” he looked up at Natasha, “but the address would still exist.”  
“Not if they redid the gridlines in that neighborhood. That grocery store is still in business, bought by one Norman Osborn almost 2 decades ago. They moved locations once the gridlines were redone to a new and upcoming neighborhood… in Queens.”  
“How did you even find that out?” Wanda asked somewhat amazed.  
Natasha shrugged, “googled red division with Oscorp. The article that the Red Line Market was under new ownership came up. Researched the given address, linked it to its old address and the gridline renewal. Found its current location.”  
“So, that’s where he’s hiding Y/n? In a grocery store?’  
“Not exactly. A block from that store is a supply warehouse where they keep their inventory. I bet you, that’s where we find them.”  
Bucky slowly shook his head, “I don’t doubt that this is all a connection but how on earth would Peter have his first meeting with Connors at this warehouse that no one affiliates with Oscorp?”  
“I’m honestly not sure, but we’re gonna find out.”  
~.~  
Peter took a deep breath and walked through the warehouse doors. He didn’t even remember this place for the longest time, but as he took in his surroundings the memory came flooding back.  
“Hey Peter!” Y/n called as she walked down the sidewalk with a new-found energy. Peter spun around, his bag of groceries hanging from his fingers. He smiled widely.  
“Hey Y/n! What are you doing down here?”   
“My boss sent me to pick up some supplies from the warehouse around the corner. I’m meeting another scientist there.”  
Peter chuckled slowly as they fell into a steady rhythm, “no offense but that sounds kind of shady.”  
Y/n laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “I thought so too honestly but a ton of the other interns have been here before and have met this Doctor, so I think everything will be okay.”  
“Do you want me to walk you?” Peter suggested lightly, “Just in case?”  
Y/n bit her lip and looked up at Peter through her eyelashes, “I’d like that.”  
Peter pulled the mask over his face and threw his backpack behind some random shelf. He didn’t really care if he lost this one. “Spiderman!” The loud booming voice came through a set of speakers on the wall. Peter shivered, knowing that the man behind the voice was much closer.  
“Welcome everybody! To the final act! This next performance will truly test your precious Spidey’s heroics… if he really is the hero you believe him to be.”  
“Let her go!”  
“Sorry Spidey… no can do.” his words came out slow and taunting. Peter wanted to punch him in the face. “do you remember?”  
“remember what?”  
“the first time we met. You stood in front of me, shook my hand, smiled, worked beside me.”  
Peter shook his head and frowned, “I wish I never met you.”  
“hey now. Don’t say anything that you’ll regret.” He stepped out of the shadows, crazed look in his eye. He cocked his head to the side and smirked, “words hurt you know.”  
“Where is Y/n?”  
He clicked his tongue, “oh don’t worry… I’ve been taking very good care of her.”  
~.~  
“Guys! Guys!” Wanda yelled loudly pulling everyone out of their heads. “he’s back on.”  
Bucky leaned against the back of the couch as he stared at the TV, “well Nat he looks like he’s in a warehouse.”  
“And you’re surprised because?” She smirked as she loaded a gun and slipped it into her thigh holster. “Now what are you waiting for? Let’s go get our boy.”  
~.~  
Connors pointed his finger at Peter and stepped towards a large door, “follow me Spiderman, I’ll take you to her.” Peter took a hesitant step forward as Connors whirled around to face him again, “oh by the way you’re still being broadcasted. Say hello to New York!” He waved his hand excitedly into the air.  
“Dr. Connors, you’re sick. You’re not stable.” Peter said calmly and slowly  
Connors’s eye twitched and he shook slightly, “I’m fine! But your girl won’t be if you continue like this.” he breath heavily, “now… follow me.”  
“Dr. Connors, you know me. You know Y/n. You don’t want to hurt us, and I don’t want to hurt you.” He raised his hands steadying them. His web shooters pointed directly at the man.  
He cackled maniacally, “You think that I know you can’t handle your web shooters? You have no powers! You are nothing right now! Oh silly silly boy.” He pulled a small button out of her pocket and hovered his thumb over it dangerously close. “I press this, and she’s gone.”  
“What?” Peter’s voice cracked slightly  
“There is a gun.” Peter swore he stopped breathing, “Sitting directly in front of Y/n. Fully loaded and ready to be fired. now guess what the button does.”  
Peter didn’t know what to do. he was lost. He had never been in this situation.  
“now, if you’re’ ready to cooperate. Follow me.” Peter took slow hesitant steps behind the crazy doctor until the two entered a large empty room. In the middle was a metal chair, she was tied to it. Her hair was matted to her face with sweat, small dribbles of blood were falling down her face. A gun sat directly in front of her face. She shook with fear.  
“Y/n….” Peter barely whispered. he moved to reach her, but Dr. Connors just moved his thumb closer to the button. Peter stopped and tore his eyes away from Y/n to look at Dr. Connors, “lower the trigger. What do you want? Money? Security?”  
Dr. Connors laughed and shook his head, “don’t be ridiculous Spiderman. I know you don’t have any money and the minute that your little Y/n is here, I know you’d send those little friends of yours to find me. No, I want something else. Something that only you can give me.” His smile widened, and Peter felt his blood run cold.   
He watched as Dr. Connors slowly walked over to Y/n and pushed the chair forward by an inch, the gun almost pressing against her skin. She whimpered in fear and squeezed her eye tightly.  
Peter’s voice wavered, “what do you want? I’ll do anything.”  
“I know…”  
“please, Dr. Connors.” Peter was one threat away from dropping to his knees and begging.  
He laid a surprisingly soft hand on Y/n’s head, but she flinched away anyways. “I want you to take off your mask, Spiderman. Reveal yourself for who you truly are.”


	4. Happy Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a happy ending for our stuggling couple :))

“I want you to take off your mask, Spiderman. Reveal yourself for who you truly are.”  
“guys?” Wanda’s voice came over the comms very worried.  
“yeah we heard it, we need to speed this up guys.” Natasha’s voice had a bite to it  
Tony was mumbling to himself in his suit as he sped through the skies, “c’mon Peter.”  
~.~  
The entire Nation was halted as they watched on whatever screen they could find. All of times square was stationed and watching as each billboard played the horrific scenes. Some shook with fear while others cried for Y/n. No one knew what was going to happen.  
~.~  
“what?” Peter’s voice croaked out as Y/n’s eyes flew open. “you want me to reveal my identity? That’s it.”  
Dr. Connors shrugged slightly, “that’s it.”  
Y/n struggled in the chair as her bloodshot eyes were blown wide and she shook her head violently. She mumbled against the cloth gag that was in between her teeth. Dr. Connors growled and grabbed her throat to stop her movements.  
Peter screamed, “Let her go! I’ll do it!”  
Dr. Connors narrowed his eyes, “then do it.” Peter grabbed the bottom of his mask before letting out a deep breath. He steeled his nerves and lifted the mask off of his face. His brown curls came into view.  
“there. Now let her go.” Y/n had tears streaming down her face.  
“turn around, give us a spin.” Dr. Connors laughed, “let the world see your face.”  
Peter was about to move when he saw a dark shadow outside the dirty window. Dr. Connors must have saw it too because he whipped around to face it. He looked between Peter and the window for a moment before all chaos broke lose. Natasha came sailing through the window, glass shattering everywhere. Clint came in through another one a moment later as Wanda tore through a wall. Peter’s instincts kicked in as he ran towards Y/n, putting his body in between her and the gun.  
He looked her in the eye, “I’m going to get you out of here.” She nodded slightly as Peter gently took out the cloth gag. Peter turned to kick the gun away, but he saw Dr. Connors stretch his hand for the button. Peter doesn’t know how he moved so quick but before he knew it, he was pushing Y/n and the chair to the side as the gunshot went off.   
The world gasped.  
Peter felt pain rip through his chest as he collapsed to the ground.  
“Peter!” that was Y/n. or maybe Wanda. Peter didn’t know, the loss of blood making his head all foggy. He barely made out Tony’s repulsors getting closer before his vision went dark.  
~.~  
The world waited with still breath as Natasha quickly took out Dr. Connors before the team quickly surrounded Peter. The team blocked Peter’s body from the camera’s view but they could still see the crying Y/n that was tied to the chair.  
She sobbed loudly, “Peter.” Clint quickly moved to untie and the moment she was free she pushed through the superheroes and dropped to her knees, cradling the unconscious Peter in her lap. The team took a few steps back which allowed the world to really see his face.  
He’s so young. One voice said in the quiet mass.  
“Tony…” Natasha swallowed thickly, She stumbled over her words as she saw the bleeding boy on the floor. “you need… you need to scan him.”  
Natasha had never been this frazzled, not when Clint was hurt, not when Steve was hurt, not when Bucky was hurt. But something about seeing this young kid that wiggled his way into her life made her heart squeeze painfully and her throat to close up. It was the touch of Bucky’s hand on her back that snapped her back into motion.  
“Tony!” her voice was much sharper, snapping the frozen man out of his thoughts. She walked around the room looking for something to stop the bleeding, “scan him! Now!”  
“fri-Friday… scan him.”  
“scanning sir.” A light buzz overtook the room as the iron man suit looked for any internal injuries. “GSW to the left chest cavity, it hit a major artery, but it seems to me that Mr. Parker is still breathing.”  
Natasha smacked Bucky’s chest, “I need your jacket. Right now.”  
Bucky quickly pulled the jacket off of his arms and handed it to Natasha. She wrapped it around Peter’s limp torso and tied it tightly. She looked up at Wanda who was shaking with tears in her eyes. “Wanda I need you to close the wound, just until we can get him back to the tower.” Natasha spun to face Clint, “get the jet.” He ran out the door.   
Wanda shook her head, hands trembling. “I can’t do it. I’ve never practiced on a person before. I haven’t trained enough.”  
Natasha grabbed her hands and stared directly into her eyes, “you can do it, because you have to do it. You want Peter to live right?” Wanda nodded silently, “then you need to try.”  
Her voice cracked as tears fell from her eyes, “what if I fail?”  
“you won’t.” Natasha’s calm voice and steadiness settled the pit in Wanda’s stomach slightly but not nearly enough to quell all of her nerves. She slowly sank to her knees and hovered her hands over Peter’s chest. His skin was ghostly pale, his lips turning an ugly shade of blue.  
Y/n was still sobbing, holding Peter’s head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing his curls away from his face. She looked up at Wanda and whispered hoarsely, “please.”  
Wanda swallowed and nodded, her fingers meticulously weaving the air around her. Scarlet tendrils floated around her fingertips as she carefully closed the wound, successfully stopping the active bleeding. A loud turbine filled the quiet space and Natasha jumped into action, forcing her catatonic team to start moving again. She made Steve and Bucky enter the jet first, having to jump from the roof of the warehouse to the open door. The two held onto the handles by the still open door, their hair whipping around their face.   
“You have to carry him steady. We need to keep him flat.” Natasha instructed as she pulled Y/n from Peter’s body. She wailed and reached for him, but Natasha just passed the frantic girl to Tony who quickly disembarked from the suit and wrapped his arms around her. Natasha saw the few tears that fell from his eyes. Wanda lifted Peter with her powers while Natasha kept her hands beneath the boy should he suddenly drop. Wanda concentrated as she passed the boy’s body through the air and into the waiting quinjet where Bucky and Steve quickly caught him and carried him over to a table. Natasha’s eyes didn’t leave the jet as she talked to Wanda, “get me up there and then get Y/n and Tony to the tower. I’ll call for vision to help you.”  
Wanda shot Natasha into the closing hangar doors and she broke into a sprint as Natasha landed gracefully. Natasha rushed over to the table where Peter was laying. “Clint, floor it!” She braced herself as the jet sped up. “Bucky, there is a stretcher in the corner, get it.” Natasha straddled the young boy as she started compressions, Bucky quickly rolling over the stretcher. She helped the boys move Peter onto the movable table.   
“Clint call Banner and Dr. Cho, tell them we need an OR immediately.”  
“already on it, they’re waiting for us right now.” Clint expertly landed the jet, but Natasha didn’t even wait until the doors were completely open until she was pushing Peter down the hallway, Dr. Cho immediately meeting her and directing the gurney towards a sterile OR.  
“What happened?” Cho demanded as she wrapped a mask around her face.  
“shot in the chest, Friday’s scan said it hit an artery. He bled a lot, but Wanda was able to stop it, pulse weak.”  
Banner came up beside them as they transferred Peter to the OR table, “he’s going into shock. We need to start immediately.”  
Dr. Cho pushed Natasha to the side, so she could start connecting things to Peter, “Natasha… you have to leave. You did everything you could.”  
Natasha could only stand still, watching silently. Bruce turned slowly, picking up a large needle and moving it towards Peter’s arm. He watched the screen intently, “injecting antidote now.” He slowly pushed the needle into Peter’s arm, his heartbeat spiking immediately.  
Bruce took a step back with the now empty bottle, his hands raised. Everyone in the room waited with bated breath as his everything on the monitors started going crazy. Natasha’s eyes sprung wide as Peter’s body started convulsing violently. She stepped forward, but Dr. Cho just raised her hand.  
“Nobody touch him. Natasha you need to leave now.” She didn’t move. Dr. Cho looked over to another nurse, “remove her.” The nurse gently pushed Natasha out of the OR, but Nat didn’t go passed the prep room as she watched the young boy convulse through the glass window.   
Slowly his heartbeat slowed down, and his vitals went back to normal. Dr. Cho took a step forward, examining his stats for a moment before clapping her hands once, “he’s stable. Let’s get to work people or our neighborhood won’t have a Spiderman anymore.”  
Natasha couldn’t tear her eyes away when Bruce cut open Peter’s suit or when Dr. Cho reopened the wound or when she entered a large tube, pulling blood out as she pulled back. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t, not even when she saw Dr. Cho start the sutures which always made her cringe. She didn’t move until Bucky came in, wrapped his arms around her body and moved her himself.  
He took her to her room and sat her down on the bed not once leaving her side. She didn’t move as she heard Wanda’s crying on the other side of her wall or when she heard the continuous knock of who she assumed was Steve at her door. She didn’t move when Friday’s voice came over to tell her that Peter was out of surgery and well. She didn’t move when Bucky prompted her to get in the shower. She didn’t move when Tony came in saying that she could see him if she wanted.  
She just didn’t move. Partially because she didn’t want to. Mainly because she didn’t know how.  
~.~  
“hey. You’re gonna be okay.” Y/n voice was soft yet coarse as she stroked the back of Peter’s hand, his limb still limp but at least the skin was warmer. Y/n didn’t look at his face, knowing that she would gag at the feeding tube that was in his mouth and the gross bruise that surrounded his eye from his fall.  
Wanda stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. She was lost in thought, not knowing if she was welcomed here or not. This was personal.  
But then Y/n cleared her throat slightly and barely glanced over her shoulder, “you can come in if you want.”  
Wanda entered awkwardly, twiddling with her finger pads slightly. She stammered, “how are you… how are you doing?”  
Y/n shrugged, not letting go of Peter’s hand. “I’m doing okay. Just one day at a time… ya know?”  
Wanda nodded, tucking a strand piece of hair behind her ear, “yeah I get it. Um… how have your family reacted?”  
Y/n let out a humorless chuckle. It was inevitable that her family, friends, classmates, professors, coworkers, and pretty much everyone else was reaching out to her trying to figure out what was happening and if it was true. Was Peter Parker really Spiderman?   
“my dad was not happy about the situation, but my mom was surprisingly supportive.” Y/n wiped a small tear away, “she just wants him to be okay.” She let a genuine smile tug at her lips, “my brothers are really excited though. It was kind of cute.”  
Wanda smiled slightly and walked to the other side of the hospital bed,   
“I had a proposition.” Wanda quickly raised her hands in defense, “only if you say so though.”  
Y/n paused her motions and looked up at the young girl, “a proposition?”  
Wanda nodded and bit her lip, “I can… I can kind of go into his head? Like I can see if he really still is in there.”  
Y/n widened her eyes, “you can do that?”  
Wanda nodded slightly and laid her hands in her lap gently. “Yeah…” She could sense Y/n’s hesitation, “but nothing would happen. I wouldn’t see anything but brain activity, beyond what the machine could pick up. No memories, no emotions, just him. It won’t change anything in there either… if you were concerned about that.”  
Y/n shook her head a small strand of hair falling loose. “No I wasn’t. I know Peter trusts you and I- I do too.” She looked up at Wanda with a watery smile, “You’re possibly one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”  
Wanda smiled back at her and covered her hand with her own. She squeezed it gently, “would you like me to do it then?”  
“And he won’t feel anything? No pain or discomfort?”  
“nothing.” Wanda reassured her.   
She bit her lip in thought for a moment before nodding with a sigh, “yeah… let’s do it. But I don’t think I can watch.” Y/n gave a reassuring squeeze to Peter’s hand before turning away slightly. Wanda just laid her hand gently on Peter’s forehead and closed her eyes.  
A moment Wanda was back with a small smile. Y/n looked to her with nervous, watery eyes. Wanda smiled at her, “he is completely fine. He’s just letting his body recover some more. He is very happy that you’re here with him, but he wants you to take care of yourself.”  
“you- you talked to him?”  
“he is very active, so it was easy to find him in there.” Wanda smiled softly, “he’s going to be alright.”  
A weight was lifted of off Y/n’s shoulders at Wanda’s words. So much so that her body physically sagged with relief. Y/n rubbed her thumb over his hand and glanced his way mumbling, “he’s gonna be okay.”  
“do you think you can eat and sleep properly now?”  
She let out a breathy laugh as she nodded, loose pieces of hair falling around her face. Y/n nodded again, “yeah I think so.” Another glanced towards him, “he’s gonna be okay.”  
Wanda walked around the bed to gently move Y/n’s body from the chair. She repeated the words once more, “he’s gonna be okay.”  
~.~  
“oh Y/n honey! How are you?” Y/n wasn’t completely sure why but the sound of her mother’s voice brought tears to her eyes.  
“I’m okay… really.” Y/n sighed as she leaned her head against the wall, “I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA.”  
“Honey do not worry about it. We completely understand, we’ve just been worried about you. How are you?”  
Y/n smiled. Somehow, despite the fact that her boyfriend was shot on live television and revealed to be Spiderman, the first question was directed at her. And it was… it was nice. This entire time she had been stressing over Peter that she really had been taking care of herself. But now she was sitting in a vacant hallway, a pair of loose sweatpants and a matching hoodie of Peter’s covering her body.   
Y/n smiled brighter, “I’m okay. I’ve been really stressed for the past few days but he’s gonna be okay.”  
“Oh honey that’s great. But how are you? Showering? Eating? Sleeping?”  
“yeah I am. Well… I am now. I just took a really long shower and ate some pizza, I just wanted to check in with you.”  
Y/n could hear her mother’s happiness, “I’m very happy to hear from you.”  
Y/n fiddled with a loose thread as she bit her lip, “how’s everything there?”  
Her mother sighed heavily, “crazy. Reporters have been outside our door since the news, your brothers haven’t been able to go to school since … so of course they’re happy with it.”  
Y/n let out a small laugh. “I’m sure.” She hesitated, “how’s dad?”  
“I’m not gonna lie to you y/n/n, he’s not happy. He doesn’t like the idea that your boyfriend is a crime fighting superhero.”  
“this is the first time Peter has ever had like a serious injury.”  
Her mother’s voice was quieter, “you know it’s not Peter he’s worried about.” Y/n felt new tears prick at her eyes, “when we saw you strapped to that chair… we couldn’t breathe. Your father –sigh—your poor father was at the station, he had every man available trying to track you.”  
The tears began to flow down her cheeks, “I imagine.” y/n’s voice cracked slightly, “I’m sorry mom… I’m really sorry.”  
“oh honey… you don’t need to apologize for anything! Your father’s not mad at you, he was just worried and scared. Oh honey he was so scared.”  
“I know, but you can tell him that I’m perfectly okay. There’s nothing wrong or hurting or anything, everything is a-okay.”  
“I’m glad to hear that.” A beat of silence, “do you mind me asking what happened?”  
“when I got kidnapped?”  
Her mother sighed slightly, “since everything. The villain guy… he said- he said that Peter… Spiderman lost his powers? Is that true?”  
Y/n sighed, “yeah… it was that weekend that I came home and had to leave early because of a ‘work’ emergency. Wanda called me and said that Peter lost his powers, so I came back to be with him.”  
“how’d it happen?”  
y/n shrugged despite the fact that her mother couldn’t see it, “I’m not sure. Peter said it was some kind of energy blast, but I don’t really know for sure.”  
“so he didn’t have any powers?”  
“none.” She let out a small laugh, “he actually lost his good eyesight too… it was kind of funny. Apparently, before he got his powers, he had poor hearing and vision, so I got to see him in glasses.”  
“was he cute?”  
“mom!” y/n responded with a smile before adding, “yeah… he was. It was actually a really fun time when he didn’t have his powers. I just felt like… like all of the stress I carried for him was gone. We hung out like a normal couple… went on dates and everything.”  
“but don’t you do that normally?”  
“yeah… it’s just different. Before, Peter always had an ear out for sirens or people in danger. Then… it was just the two of us.” She picked at the thread, “am I selfish for saying this?”  
“I don’t think so. I mean, it’s normal that you would want any danger directed at your boyfriend elimiNated and for the two of you guys to have alone time with no distractions but…”  
y/n groaned slightly, “but?”  
Her mother continued, “but it is selfish for you to make him choose between Spiderman and you, because to me… it sounds like an impossible choice. If you can’t handle the stress of him being a superhero then you’re gonna have to break up with him. But you can’t make him make that choice.”  
“yeah I know… thanks mom.”  
“of course sweetheart. Is he awake yet?”  
“not yet. Wanda said he is just taking time to recover. To save him, they had to give him the antidote so in theory he got his powers back. But Dr. Banner said that it took a toll on his body, so he was overly exhausted which is why he hasn’t woken up yet.”  
“That makes sense… I guess. Well I hope—”  
“mom! Mom! Guess what just happened!” Y/n smiled as she heard her brother, Henry, in the background.  
“Sweetheart, I’m on the phone with your sister.”  
“Y/n!? I want to talk to her.”  
“Just give me a second… Henry! Do not grab at my phone!”  
“please mom I really want to talk to her!”  
Y/n giggled slightly as she heard her brother argue fervently. Her mother grumbled slightly, “okay here she is but don’t talk for too long, you have homework to catch up on.”  
“okay!” There was slight static as the phone was passed between hands, “Y/n! Oh my god I can’t believe it! Peter is Spiderman?! That’s so cool! Did you know? Of course you knew! Have you ever been swinging with him? Is he really as strong and as fast as the news says he is? Can he really lift three tons? What’s the spider sense? When did he get his powers? How did he get his powers? Can I come visit you guys?”  
Y/n laughed into her phone as her brother continued to spew more and more questions out of his mouth. “Slow down Henry I can barely understand you.”  
He sucked in a deep breath, “sorry sorry. I just can’t believe it!”  
Y/n nodded, “yeah it’s crazy I know.” Her attention was drawn to the figure coming down the hallway and soon realized it was Natasha. Y/n expected her to continue walking and not give her a second glance but when she stopped in front of her, a weird sense of worry filled her heart.  
“he’s awake.” Her voice was quiet as to not disturb Y/n’s phone call but honestly probably not much could stop her brother from his rapid fire questions.  
Y/n’s eyes widened, and her heart rate picked up. She quickly mumbled into the phone, “hey something came up and I have to go. I’ll call you guys back soon. I love you. Tell mom and dad that I’ll call them back and that I love them as well. Tell your brothers too.”  
“is everything okay?”  
Y/n smiled and nodded, happy tears filling her eyes. “everything is great.”  
~.~  
“I just..” Y/n let out a deep sigh as she took another sip of the coffee, “I just don’t know where to go from here.”  
Natasha gave her a sympathetic smile, “you could always come live here with us.”  
y/n grimaced slightly, “it’s just… I had a normal life and then over the course of one day it all changed. Like I can’t even go near my college or even my damn apartment without being stopped by someone.”  
“it’s hard to go public.” Natasha said wistfully, “I experienced the same thing when I released all of shield and hydra’s information. All of my wrongs and personal history were suddenly everywhere, and I was being recognized. It was strange to go from unknown to famous overnight.”  
“strange is an understatement.” Y/n mumbled.  
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You know that we’ll help out in any way possible.” She gave Y/n a knowing look, “I’m sure everything will work out.”  
“I hope so.”  
~.~  
“hey kid, what’s got you looking so down?” Bucky asked as walked up to Peter who was currently sitting at the dining room table, lazily moving his spoon around in his bowl.  
He sighed slightly and shrugged, “not much.”  
Bucky rolled his eyes and sat down across from the boy, “you and Steve both suck at hiding your feelings. C’mon, what’s going on?”  
Peter slumped in the chair slightly, “I overheard Y/n talking to Natasha the other day…” He bit his lip, “I’m worried she’s going to break up with me.”  
The news came as a shock to Bucky, “really? Why would she break up with you?”  
Peter sighed and shrugged slightly, “I think she doesn’t want to be publicly dating Spiderman, too much pressure. I don’t know…”  
Bucky shook his head, “Don’t assume anything. Anytime I’ve seen couples get in fights it’s because someone assumes something and acts on impulse instead of talking to their partner.”  
Peter smirked slightly as he looked at Bucky, “talking from experience?”  
Bucky huffed out a laugh, “unfortuNately.” He stood up and put his now empty mug in the sink, “just talk to her.” He started walking out of the room before pausing and looking back at the young man, “it’s good to have you back Peter.”  
Peter smiled at him, “it’s good to be back.”  
~.~  
“we are out here reporting live from Stark Tower for the fourth day with no update. Y/n y/l/n, the girlfriend of the famous web-slinging superhero has yet to make an appearance or a statement regarding the situation. We have reached out to her family for a comment but so far nothing of substance has come back.” The reported glanced up at the tower, “Five days ago Spiderman was shot on National television after it was revealed that he had lost his powers. It is unclear how Spiderman is doing or if he’s even alive.”  
Another reporter beside that one started up, “Who is Spiderman? He’s the web-slinging superhero that protects the great city of new York. Dubbed as the friendly neighborhood Spiderman, a hero who takes the time to help people cross the street or rescue their cat from the tree. But who is Spiderman really? A child. Peter Parker, a twenty-one year old, college student at NYU is the ‘hero’ protecting you from muggers all the way to aliens. Sources report he has been Spiderman for six year which means he acquired his powers and began crime fighting at the age of 15. 15! Typically at fifteen we haven’t even had our first kiss yet. That brings up the question, who was this child’s guardian and what were they doing? Who lets a child go out performing dangerous actions nightly. Another source reports that Spiderman has been working with the avengers for three years, which means that at least some people have common sense and only let him on the team when he was an adult. So really the question is, how qualified is Spiderman really?”  
“Peter Benjamin Parker, that’s the full name of our newly unmasked Spiderman. He’s a 21 year old college student at NYU, who, according to sources, is majoring in chemical engineering and minoring in photography. The young adult, who has been Spiderman for six years, has a rather sad origin story however it is not unique when looking at the hero spectrum. Mr. parker’s parents died when he was six, and his uncle was killed just two months before Spiderman was first seen. His last living relative, his aunt, who had been his guardian for the last 15 years passed last year due to cancer. Peter B Parker now resides—”  
“Can we shut that off please?” Peter groaned out as he rounded the corner, his hands stuffed securely in his jacket pockets.  
Y/n grimaced slightly as she pointed the remote at the tv and quickly turned it off. She tucked her leg beneath her as Peter came to sit with her on the couch. She fiddled with her fingers, “how are you feeling?”  
Peter nodded slightly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes from his nap. “a lot better.”  
Y/n nodded, biting her lip. “that’s good. Great, really. Super happy to see you’re getting better.”  
Peter didn’t say anything but offer her a small smile. It was awkward between the two, both stuck in a sort of crossroads. Y/n knew she loved Peter, but she wasn’t quite sure how to manage the whole famous thing. Peter, on the other hand, was living in constant fear that Y/n would break up with him at a moment’s notice. They both were wound too tightly at the moment. Either could snap. But who would do it first?  
They sat in the tense silence for a moment before Y/n glanced at Peter and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “is there anything I can do for you? Anything you need?”  
Peter shook his head, picking at the cushions. “No I’m all good.” He looked up to meet her concerned gaze, “is there anything I can do for you?”  
Y/n gave him a sweet smile. She laid her hand over his and squeezed gently, “Peter you need to be worrying about yourself right now. I’m fine.”  
Peter nodded, looking away and mumbling, “I wish I could just worry about myself.”  
“What was that?”  
Peter whipped around, quickly shaking his head to cover his words. “oh nothing. Me? I didn’t say anything.”  
Y/n sighed and turned her body to fully face him. “Peter.” The way she said his name broke his heart. So sad and… and ready to give up. “What’s going on with us? I know you can feel the strain too.”  
Peter bit his lip, struggling to contain his question anymore. He looked up at her glossy eyes and pursed lips and couldn’t handle it. He blurted out, “Are you breaking up with me?”  
Y/n reeled back in shock. How could he think that? Where did he even hear that? Natasha wouldn’t tell him, would she? Maybe he—oh my god. Her brows furrowed angrily, “Were you eavesdropping?”  
“I didn’t mean too!” Peter shrugged sheepishly before realizing you didn’t deny it. He looked up with hurt painted across his face, “so it’s true.”  
Y/n rolled her eyes at the clueless boy, “No it’s not true you dimwit. But if you had really listened to the conversation then you’d have known that I’m annoyed with the lack of privacy not with you!”  
Peter sighed and grabbed your hands, “I did hear that. It’s just… that’s probably not going to go away so the only thing that could make it better is…”  
“if we go away?” Y/n asked with a raised brow. Peter sighed and nodded, looking down at your connected hands.  
Y/n tugged his body a little closer to hers, “Peter. Peter, look at me.” He forced his head upwards, so their eyes met, “I love you. I love you so fucking much. I had no idea I could love a person this much.”  
Peter was smiling at her, raising their hands so he could press a kiss to the back of her hand. He let them drop with a small frown, “I feel like there’s a but here somewhere.”  
Y/n sighed and nodded, “but I have to be careful. I have my future and my career to worry about. Not to mention my family. Everything is going to be affected by this.”  
Peter nodded with a sad expression, “I get it. I guess I’ve just been a little… sheltered? From it. I mean I’ve been in the tower since the accident and I don’t really have any family to worry about except for you.”  
Y/n pouted slightly, “that was really sweet Peter.” She huffed, “God, you make this so hard.”  
Peter let out a small laugh, “I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not.”  
Y/n sighed deeply and laid her head on his shoulder, “I guess… I guess I don’t really know what to do. I don’t want to leave you and I don’t want you to leave me. But… but- but this is a learning curve.”  
Peter nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and placing a small kiss into her hair before hugging her closer. “I understand. Don’t worry about it, as long as I can keep doing this for a while.”  
Y/n smiled and nodded, pressing a light kiss to his exposed neck. “yes please.”  
Peter ran a soothing hand up and down her arm, “why don’t we worry about this later. We’ll sit down, talk about it further, maybe talk to the others so they can help. We’ll figure it out.”  
Y/n nodded, “That sounds like a smart idea. Why not now though?”  
Peter reached for the remote, switching the channel and turning up the volume. “Because The Godfather is on and it’s one of my favorites.”  
Y/n chuckled softly and cuddled closer as Peter relaxed even more. Her arms wrapped around his torso as she pulled her legs underneath her body. She was halfway draped across him and Peter couldn’t be happier.  
“you’re a dork.” Her words were slightly muffled in his shirt, but Peter still caught them.  
“but I’m your dork.”  
“unfortunately.” The quip came back quick and easy causing a large smile to break over Peter’s face. Yeah maybe things were gonna change, but their love for each other would last. He could feel it.


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a quick epilogue to wrap some things up

“Mr. Parker! Mr. Parker!” The shouts came from all of the press that line the sidewalk outside of the sleek office building. Peter just politely pushed through the crowd, not responding to any of their questions.  
He had Y/n’s hand clasped in his as he lead her through the masses. Natasha was walking proudly behind the two, while Tony walked in front of them.  
Happy opened the door to the large car, allowing the four of them to enter it safely. He kept the press and interviewers at bay long enough for him to get back into the car and drive down the road, albeit slowly.  
Y/n let out a long sigh as she relaxed into the leather seat, her hand still in Peter’s.  
“You kids did good. It’s not easy, but you did good.” Peter smiled at his mentor and his praise.  
Y/n let out a shaky breath, pushing some loose hair behind her ear. “Does it every get easier?”  
Natasha nodded slightly, “It does. And then something will happen, and it’ll get hard all over again.”  
Peter squeezed her hand reassuringly as Tony crossed his arms, leaning back in the leather seat. “but don’t worry about it. Stark lawyers and PR are the top of the top. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”  
Y/n smiled softly at the older man and leaned against Peter’s side slightly, “Thanks Tony.”  
“anything for family.”


End file.
